On December 10, 2013 the rushed process
of passing the 4th amendment of the Anti-Infiltration Law 1 in the Knesset was
completed. According to the amendment, asylum - seekers arriving from Egypt will
be imprisoned in Saharonim prison for a period of one year. At the end of one year,
the detainees will be transferred to the open prison known as the "Holot” until
they will be willing to return to their home country. In addition to hundreds
of prisoners transferred from Saharonim, Holot is populated by asylum seekers, men
only at this time, who received summons at the Immigration Authority offices when
they came to renew their visas. In recent months, Immigration Authority
inspectors have been rounding up asylum seekers who haven't succeeded in renewing
their visas due to long lines at the immigration authority offices, and transferred
them to Saharonim prison, where an immigration officer determines the period of
their detention, punishment for not renewing their visa, before being transferred
to Holot detention facility for open - ended detention.
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